Operating mechanism for doors and the like



April 1934. G. w. HEGEL 1,953,805

OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DOORS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 14, 1929 Figl.

InVe nLOf': George W. Hegel. 96AM M His Attorney.

Patented Apr. 3, 1934 OPERATING MECHANISM FOR DOORS AND THE LIKE Gcergc W. Hegel, SchenectadygN. -Y., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application August 14,

5 Claims.

My invention relates to operating mechanism for doors and the like; more particularly to operating mechanism for raising and lowering a door, and has for itsobject the provision for simple and eflicient means for stabilizing the door in either the closed or the open position.

While my invention has general use in the raising of heavy objects such as doors and the like, it has particular application in the operation of vertical doors such as'often used on electric furnaces.

In carrying out my invention, I raise the door by means of a lever which is attached to the door at one end through the agency-oi a flexible connecting member and an intermediate member secured to the lever and to which the flexible member is connected. This intermediate member is arranged to engage the flexible member as the door is moved, and it is so shaped as to thereby vary the effective length or" the lever arm for various positions of the door. The other end of the lever is provided with a counterbalancing weight so arranged that its center of gravity has a greater range of movement on one side of the horizontal than the other to thereby vary the effective length of. the lever with the po sition of the door.

For more complete understanding of my invention, reference should be had to the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a fragmentary diagrammatic view showing a door operating mechanism embodying my invention, while Fig. 2 is a perspective view of an electric furnace provided with the door operating mechanism shown in Fi 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown my invention. in one form as applied particularly to the operation of a vertical furnace door 10, although it will be understood that my invention has application in the raising of various other objects and apparatus. As will be understood from the drawing, the door 10 is movable in a vertical direction from the closed to the open position and vice versa, it being provided at each side with flanges 11 andl2 which move in guides 13 and 14 secured to the supporting structure 15 of the furnace. The raising and lowering of the door is accomplished through the agency of the lever arm 16,

which is movable about a substantially horizontal pivot 1'7 secured to the furnace structure. This lever arm is mounted in such position that one end, the right-hand end as shown in the drawing, lies directly above the door, and this end of the lever is provided with a member 18 having a spe- 'cial curved shape or contour and lying in the 1929, Serial N0. 385,802

vertical plane of movement of the lever. The end or face of the member 18, which constitutes the endof the lever, isprovided with a groove 19 adapted to-receive a suitable flexible connecting member 20, which may be a metallic chain, or preferably as shown, a wire rope. It iscon'nected at its lower end to the door 10 and atits'upper end is connected to the member 18. 'As shown the member 18 has a gradually curved face more specifically an arc-shaped face having its center of curvature at a point l8a above the lever arm 16 so that the lower end of the member 18 is nearer the pivot point 17 than'the upper end of the member 18. The -member 18 terminates at its upper end in a portionZl which is curved over andoackabruptly toward the opposite end of the lever so as to provide fora simple and efiective connection between the rope and the -member 18. Preferably, the groove 19 extendsupward over the face of the curved portion 21 so that the rope 20 may be secured to the member 18 by placing it in the groove and providing a knot or knob 22 at its upper end which engages with the sides of the groove.

'As indicated in the drawing, the face of the member 18 engaging the rope is so shaped or curved that when the door, is in its lowermost positionas indicated in the drawing, the effective length B, Fig. 1, of the right-hand end of the lever-arm is somewhat greater than its effective length 3' when the door is raised to the f ull open position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. This difference in the eiiective length ofthe lever arm, it will be observed, is due to the peculiar curvature of the face of the member 18, which member, it will be noted, extends at right angles with the lever arm and has its greater portion lying above the lever arm. It willfurthermore be observed that this effective difference in the lever length is obtained while maintaining the angles a and 1) between the lever arm and'the horizontal line 23y substantally equal. In other words, the lever subtends equal angles on opposite sides of the line my when the door is in its open and closed positions. Thus, the effect of the member 18 is to elevate the point of connection between the lever arm and the door. When the door is in the closed position as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the rope 20 lies only in that portion of the groove 19 which is around the upper bend 21 and the effective end of the lever arm is obviously at the point of contact between the two. When the lever is in the door open position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, it will be observed that the effective end of the lever is now the lower end of ill) the member 18. It will be further noted that as the member 18 moves upward with the opening of the door, the rope 20 falls gradually into groove 19 and gradually moves somewhat toward the pivot 17 of the lever, the shape of the member 18 being such that the effective length of this end of the lever arm is gradually shortened as the door is raised.

The increased lever arm length B is desirable when the door is closed, in order that the door will be in stable equilibrium in this position, and the reverse is also true when the door is open; that is, the shorter lever arm length B gives more stable equilibrium. Obviously if the rope were attached directly to the end of the lever without the intervention of the member 18', the lever arm would have the same length in both the open and closed positions.

On the opposite end or" the lever arm, that is the portion of the lever arm on the left-hand side of the pivot 17, is mounted a slidable counterweight 23. This weight may be held in any adiusted position on the lever arm by means of a screw 24. In order further to stabilize the door in its open and closed positions, the weight 23 has its greater mass lying above the lever, so that its center of gravity 25 lies a short distance above the lever. Thus, the center of gravity 25 is the effective end of the lever arm. As will be observed from an examination of Fig. 1, when the door is closed the eifeotive length of this end of the lever arm is A, whereas when the door is open the effective length of the lever is increased to A', as indicated in dotted lines. Obviously this variation in the effective length of the lever arm has the effect of stabilizing the door in the open and closed positions. For the purpose of facilitating the movement of the lever, a rod 26 is pivotally secured to the outer left-hand end. of the lever, this rod hanging down within easy reach of the operator and being provided at its lower end with a handle 27 which may be grasped to raise or lower the lever.

It will be observed that the essential feature of the weight is that its center of gravity has its greatest range of movement above the horizontal line my. This may be accomplished in various ways; for example, by mounting the weight on the lever so that its center of gravity lies on the lever and then bending the lever up so that the center of gravity of the lever is in substantially the posion shown in the drawing.

While I have described my invention as embodied in concrete form and as operating in a specific manner in accordance with the provisions of the Patent Statutes, it should be understood that I do not limit my invention thereto, since various modifications thereof will suggest them selves to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirt of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the annexed claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States. is:

1. Operating mechanism for raising and 10v"- ering doors or the like comprising a lever provided with a pivot, a connection between the door and one end of said lever, and a counterbalancing weight on the other end of said lever for stabilizing the door in its raised position, said connection including means responsive to the angular position of said lever when the door is lowered for increasing the effective length of said lever between the door and the pivot of said lever so as to stabilize the door in its lowermost position.

2. Operating mechanism for raising and lowering doors or the like comprising a lever provided with a pivot, a connection between the door and one end of said lever, including a member on said end of the lever extending laterally with respect to said lever in the direction of the movement thereof, and a ccun'terbalancing weight on the other end of said lever for stabilizing the door in its raised position, said member being arranged to increase the effective length of said lever between the door and the pivot of said lever when the door is lowered, whereby the door is stabilized in its lowermost position.

3. Operating mechanism for raising and lowering doors or the like comprising a lever provide-:1 with a pivot, a connection between the door and one end of said lever including a curved member secured to said end of said lever so as to extend laterally therefrom in the direction of the movement of said lever, said curved member being provided with a groove on its face, a flexible member lying in said groove forming a connection between the door and the more remote end of said curved member, and a counterbalancing \a right on. the other end of said lever for stabilizing the door in its raised position, said curved member being arranged to increase the effective length or". said lever between the door and the pivot of said lever when the door is lowered so as to stabilise the door in its lowermost position.

4. Operating mechanism for vertically movable doors and the like, comprising a lever attached to the door so as to describe equal angles with the horizontal when the door is in the open and the closed positions, a counterbalancing weight on said lever arranged to stabilize the door in its raised position and means responsive to the an.- gular position of said lever for decreasing the effective length of said lever arm between raid weight and the pivot of said lever and for increasing the effective length of said lever arm between said door and the pivot of said lever when the door is lowered whereby the door is stabilized in its lowermost position.

5. Operating mechanism for vertically inevable doors and the like comprising a lever mounted for movement about a horizontal pivot and arranged to move through substantially equal angles on opposite sides of a horizontal position, a member secured to one end of said lever as to project upwardly therefrcrn, a connection between the upper end of said member and said door and a counterbalancing weight on the opposite end of said lever having its center of gravity above said lever whereby because of said member and the arrangement of said weight the effective lengths of said lever arm on each side of its pivot are varied as the door is moved so as to stabilize 1 the door in either its raised or lowered position. GEORGE W. HEGEL. 

